We travel back to the year of our lord 1776, in the midst of the War of Independence between the colonists of New England and the troops of George III. The widower Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), a former war hero who has fought in previous battles in France and India, only wants to live in peace while raising his seven children in South Carolina. However, when his idealistic son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) is arrested, he is dragged into participating in the War of Independence leading an American militia against the British, headed by the cruel Colonel Tavington (Jason Isaacs). How to resist all this?
We are talking, of course, about ‘The Patriot’ (Roland Emmerich, 2000), the film that included Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs and Chris Cooper in its cast and will disappear from the Netflix movie catalog on July 1. Although one of the best war movies of the 21st century is a hit on Netflix 8 years after its theatrical release, it seems to be going into limbo streaming.
Nominated for Oscars for best cinematography (Caleb Deschanel), best soundtrack (John Williams) and best sound (Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Lee Orloff), The film established Roland Emmerich as the most American German director in the world. after titles such as ‘Universal Soldier’ (1992), ‘Stargate’ (1994), ‘Independence Day’ (1996) and ‘Godzilla’ (1998).
“He pompously embodies the familiar, natural-light-soaked soldierly games of ‘Barry Lyndon’ (Stanley Kubrick, 1975), with no moral concern other than to offer us a colossal, Manichean (so what?) but one hundred percent cinematic spectacle,” noted our not exactly favorable review of ‘The Patriot.'”Grandiloquent, excessive heroism, in form and patriotic substratumwhich is not an impediment to a special sensitivity (almost animal) in the treatment of feelings and intimacy, unimaginable in Emmerich, but traceable in the western films of his compatriot Fritz Lang, who has shot down the theory that relates color , love and violence”.
The comparison with the natural lighting in Kubrick’s classic is not gratuitous, since, as Emmerich was keen to emphasise at the time, scenes such as the one in which Cornwalis (Tom Wilkinson) thanks Benjamin for looking after his dogs were “particularly difficult to shoot” due to all the natural light coming through the windows. For these moments, the camera speed was reduced, increasing the interior lighting to about three times the normal level to compensate for the exterior light.
It’s not for nothing that we talk about (more or less) Paco Buyo’s favorite film, a title to be claimed alongside another great production that is leaving Netflix this June 30, 2024: ‘The Remains of the Day’ (James Ivory, 1993).
Ricardo Rosado is a film critic, cultural journalist, expert in American comedy, horror films of all kinds and everything that happens between genres and formats. Raised on Steven Spielberg films, and spoiled since he came across David Lynch, he has been writing about the art he consumes for a decade.
In FOTOGRAMAS you will read him commenting on the latest theatrical releases, promoting peace between Marvel and DC fans, reviewing all the Star Wars news or diving into the depths of the Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video and Filmin catalogues. He also likes to make galleries and rankings of movies and series, but no one trusts his judgment too much.
After studying Audiovisual Communication at the Complutense University of Madrid, he created a film review blog with the hope of attending film festivals and press screenings for free. Now, after seven years writing in FOTOGRAMAS about the latest theatrical releases, current series and any content available on the different streaming channels, she still thinks it was worth it.
Frontman of two shameful musical projects, director of various music videos for Madrid heavy metal bands and author of quite a few short films hidden on the web, he is the editor and one of the proud contributors to the cultural podcast ‘Los de al lado de Pumares’, a space that has allowed him to participate as a collaborator in other radio formats such as ‘Estamos de cine’ (Castilla-La Mancha Media) and ‘El faro’ (Cadena SER), as well as having made him one of the main voices in FOTOGRAMAS’ videos.
